"God Above, if men would only
use their ears
They would know who does what, and to whom."
-- Bertolt Brecht, The Ballad of Marie Saunders

As I write these words, millions of
people are watching a TV series called "Horseman [or
'Knight'] Without a Horse" produced by Dream TV in
Egypt. It is 41 episodes long. It is being shown all
around the world.

I wouldn't be telling you this except
it is a TV adaptation of "The Protocols of the
Elders of Zion," Adolf Hitler's favorite book.

You may not have heard of "The
Protocols" of Zion, or you may have heard that it is
a hoax. Or perhaps you have heard people say there is a
Jewish plot to rule the world and "The Protocols of
Zion" is in some way involved.

Those who push "The Protocols"
generally claim it is the minutes of a meeting of Jewish
leaders, whom the book bizarrely calls "Elders of
Zion." Sometimes they say these "Elders"
met in 1897 in Berne, Switzerland, at the time of the
first Zionist conference; other times in Paris. (Just for
the record, the Zionist conference in Berne was an
entirely open affair.)

The most obvious theme of "The
Protocols" is that Jewish people are supposed to be
this homogeneous block of conspirators with nearly
supernatural powers, and led by cunning Masters of Deceit
(the "Elders of Zion") who are united behind
the goal of ruling over gentiles.

To help conquer the gentiles (or, in
Yiddish, the 'goyim') "The Elders of Zion"
supposedly employ, of all people, the Fraternal Order of
Masons, who have the task of infiltrating and undermining
the always-clueless gentiles.

The Protocols was shown to be a hoax in
a superb series of articles published in the London Times
back in 1921. We have scanned the relevant editions of
the London Times and I am proud to say you can view them,
for the first time on the Internet, at Emperor's Clothes.
(1)

But what is the point of "The
Protocols" hoax?

==========================================================

Hoax with a Purpose

==========================================================

It is very easy to fall into an error
regarding the Protocols.

That error is to see it exclusively as
an expression of hatred of Jewish people. Of course, it
is violently anti-Semitic. However, as we shall see, it
was written, and is still used today, to accomplish a
goal.

"The Protocols" is a
convenient tool for those who hold power and wish to
distort, forestall or undermine democracy.

Ordinary people everywhere are
susceptible to racist arguments. So undemocratic
establishment forces often try to mobilize people's fears
of particular ethnic groups so as to distract them from
the real source of inequality and oppression: the
establishment elite. The ethnic group targeted has often
been Jewish people because they are a distinct minority
in many countries.

"The Protocols" have been
used in this manner to mobilize prejudice and fear
against Jews. The first and most obvious effect is to
provide a scapegoat on whom to blame all social problems
and discontent, thus diverting the majority from
organizing against the real holders of power.

But there is yet another purpose,
perhaps more significant. "The Protocols"
states that progressive movements - as far back as the 18th
century movement for Liberty, Equality and Fraternity -
are all secretly the work of Jews. By spreading the ideas
of "The Protocols", fascist operatives, often
covertly employed by seemingly respectable
Establishments, can accuse those who demand change or who
expose abuses of being agents of 'The Jews'. Since anti-Jewish
prejudice (anti-Semitism) is common anyway, presenting
the struggle for social reform as being controlled by
'The Jews' is an attempt to convince people that social
reform is bad for them. Thus, the ideas in "The
Protocols" are used to poison the very terms of
political discourse and to destroy movements for reform,
isolating honest reformers, or even transforming such
movements into tools of the Establishment. Moreover, if
the fear of an evil conspiracy of "Elders of Zion"
can be sufficiently whipped up, ordinary people can be
gotten to surrender rights and to engage in criminal acts
which they would never permit, let alone support, under
normal circumstances.

As I noted earlier, researchers have
shown that "The Protocols" is a work of fiction.
But it was not originally written mainly to attack Jews
or Masons. Rather, it employed the rhetorical device of a
supposed Jewish/Mason conspiracy to attack democrats
trying to reform the Russian Empire, accusing them of
being agents of the imaginary Jewish conspiracy.

The Russian Czar's
secret police, the Okhrana, fabricated "The
Protocols" in the 1890s. Pyotr Ivanovich Rachkovsky,
then head of the Russian Secret Police abroad, probably
ordered the writing of the Protocols. Rachkovsky was a
big advocate of using anti-Semitism to attack reformers
and revolutionaries. After the Russian Revolution of 1905,
he helped organize the fascist-like Black Hundreds in
Russia. Moreover, his specialty was the creation of false
documents:

[Start Quote from Cohn]

"This born intriguer delighted
in forging documents. As head of the Okhrana outside
Russia his main concern was to cope with Russian
revolutionaries who had taken refuge abroad. One of
his favourite methods was to produce a letter or
pamphlet in which a supposed revolutionary attacked
the revolutionary leadership. In 1887 there appeared
in the French press a letter by a certain 'P.
Ivanov', who claimed to be a disillusioned
revolutionary, asserting - quite falsely - that the
majority of the terrorists were Jews. In 1890 there
appeared a pamphlet [also forged by Rachkovsky]...[with
the title,] 'A Confession by an Old Man once a
Revolutionary'... accusing the [Russian]
revolutionaries who had taken refuge in London of
being British agents." (2)

[End Quote from Cohn]

The goal of "The Protocols"
was to convince Russians that the liberal reformers and
social revolutionaries threatening the power of the
Russian aristocracy would destroy Russia. That is why we
find that the Protocols includes statements like this one:

[Start Quote from "Protocols"
on 'Mystical Autocracy']

"The principal guarantee of
stability of rule is to confirm the aureole of power,
and this aureole is attained only by such a majestic
inflexibility of might as shall carry on its face the
emblems of inviolability [derived] from mystical
causes- from the choice of God. Such was, until
recent times, the Russian autocracy, the one and only
serious foe we had in the world, without counting the
papacy."

-- Protocol 15 (3)

[End Quote from "Protocols"
on 'Mystical Autocracy']

As you will recall, advocates of "the
Protocols" claim it is the minutes of a meeting of
some "Elders of Zion." Pretending for the
moment that these Elders existed, they would hate the
Aristocrats (since they are trying to undermine them). So
why on earth would they make flowery, overblown
statements about the mystical glories of the Russian
aristocracy? Why would they say that the Russian
autocracy was chosen by God?

They wouldn't. But advocates of the
Russian aristocracy would. Especially if they were
writing a pamphlet which used a fictional meeting of
"Elders of Zion" as a device to boost the
Aristocracy and paint its opponents as "agents of
the Jews".

Once you understand that "The
Protocols" was a hoax intended to prevent social
reforms in quasi-feudal Russia, it makes sense. But if
you try to read "The Protocols" as the minutes
of a supposed meeting of real conspirators, it's an
incoherent mess. I'll show you an example of that in Part
2.

We at Emperor's Clothes
work hard to bring you important information and analysis. Often we are
the first to expose misinformation and lies about US foreign policy and
the media. We are beholden to no one. We state our sources, so you can
check them. And we post important documents when possible.

We feel *privileged* to be
involved with this Website. The work is its own reward. But we also have
to pay the bills. We depend on donations from our readers.

Our articles are
*free* and may be freely reposted. They reach hundreds of thousands of
people. Therefore, by donating some of your hard-earned money, you will be
doing something useful to combat the lies of the powerful. $10 to $1000 -
every donation helps.

(1) On 16-18
August 1921, Philip Graves published his famous London
Times articles showing how "The Protocols of Zion"
was a plagiary. We have scanned his articles into PDF
files and also transcribed them for easier reading. All
is accessible at http://emperors-clothes.com/antisem/graves-tran.htm

(2) Norman Cohn, 1981 (1969),
Warrant For Genocide: The Myth of the Jewish World
Conspiracy and 'The Protocols of Elders of Zion', Chico,
CA: Scholars Press